TESS Archives

Artist's concept of exoplanet candidate HD 137010 b, dubbed a "cold Earth" because it's a possible rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, orbiting a Sun-like star about 146 light-years away. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keith Miller (Caltech/IPAC)

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release

Exoplanet Candidate HD 137010 b: An Ice-Cold Earth Analog?

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2026January 30, 2026

The Discovery A candidate planet that might be remarkably similar to Earth, HD 137010 b, has one potentially big difference: It could be colder than perpetually frozen Mars. See A […]

Stability analysis of the TOI-5788 planetary system. For fixed initial conditions (Table 4), the parameter space of the system is explored by varying the orbital period and the eccentricity of planet c (left panel) and the eccentricities of both planets (right panel). The step size is 0.0025 in the eccentricities, 0.001 d in the orbital period of planet b, and 0.003 d in the orbital period of planet c. For each initial condition, the system is integrated over 5000 yr and, from a frequency analysis of the mean longitude of the outer planet, a stability indicator is calculated. The colours in the plot represent the chaotic diffusion, measured by the variation in the frequency (see text). Red points correspond to highly unstable orbits, whilst blue points correspond to orbits which are likely to be stable on Gyr timescales. The black dots show the values of the best fit solution (Table 4). -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Discovery and Characterisation of Two Exoplanets Orbiting the Metal-poor, Solar-type Star TOI-5788 with TESS, CHEOPS, and HARPS-N

by Keith CowingJanuary 28, 2026January 28, 2026

We present the discovery and characterisation of two transiting exoplanets orbiting the metal-poor, solar-type star TOI-5788.

This artist's impression shows the star TRAPPIST-1 with two planets transiting across it. ExoMiner++, a recently updated open-source software package developed by NASA, uses artificial intelligence to help find new transiting exoplanets in data collected by NASA’s missions. NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release

ExoMiner++ – NASA AI Model That Found 370 Exoplanets Now Digs Into TESS Data

by Keith CowingJanuary 26, 2026January 26, 2026

Scientists have discovered over 6,000 planets that orbit stars other than our Sun, known as exoplanets. More than half of these planets were discovered thanks to data from NASA’s retired […]

The PLL analysis of the fifth detected transit of TOI-5388 b at 1881.03 TBJD. Each square represents the flux of a pixel, with respect to time, and the color scale represent the average flux value. Yellow dots represent the expected transit time. The red contour represents the aperture mask for LC extraction. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Characterization Of Two New Transiting Sub-Neptunes And A Terrestrial Planet Around M-dwarf Hosts

by Keith CowingJanuary 20, 2026January 20, 2026

We report the confirmation of three transiting exoplanets orbiting TOI-1243 (LSPM~J0902+7138), TOI-4529 (G~2–21), and TOI-5388 (Wolf~346) that were initially detected by TESS through ground-based photometry and radial velocity follow-up measurements […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Cubesats and smallsats, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

Launch Of Pandora Satellite And CubeSats To Explore Exoplanets (Update)

by Keith CowingJanuary 10, 2026January 11, 2026

Update: Pandora was launched on 11 January 2026 at 8:44 am ET. A new NASA spacecraft called Pandora is awaiting launch ahead of its journey to study the atmospheres of […]

Phase-folded TESS light curve utilizing all 54 available sectors, binned to 5 minutes (blue points with error bars). The clear U-shape morphology and shallow depth (∼ 158 ppm) are consistent with a transiting planet. Note that the absence of secondary eclipses is further analyzed in Figure 3. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Physical Vetting of the Ultra-Short-Period Sub-Earth TOI 864.01

by Keith CowingJanuary 9, 2026January 9, 2026

We present a comprehensive analysis of TOI 864.01, a transit-like signal associated with the M-dwarf TIC 231728511.

The Kepler exoplanet candidate population around FGK stars used in the analysis of S. Bryson et al. (2021), shown in period and radius, both colored and sized by catalog reliability with exoplanet radius error bars. The background color map and contours indicate detection completeness. The rectangles show example η⊕ definitions from different authors. Adapted from S. Bryson et al. (2020a). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Why Estimating η⊕ Is Difficult: A Kepler-Centric Perspective

by Keith CowingDecember 29, 2025December 29, 2025

η⊕, the occurrence rate of rocky habitable zone exoplanets orbiting Sun-like stars, is of great interest to both the astronomical community and the general public. The Kepler space telescope has […]

Stability analysis of the TOI-6041 system. The phase space of the system is explored by varying the orbital period Pi and eccentricity ei of each planet independently. For each initial condition (Table 4), the system is integrated over 10 kyr, and a stability criterion is derived with the frequency analysis of the mean longitude. The chaotic diffusion is measured by the variation in the frequencies. The color scale corresponds to the logarithmic variation in the stability index used in (Correia et al. 2010). The red zone corresponds to highly unstable orbits, while the dark blue region can be assumed to be stable on a billion-year timescale. White dashed lines indicate the nominal orbital periods reported in Table 4. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOTEM) Survey.VII. TOI-6041: A Multi-planet System Including A Warm Neptune Exhibiting Strong TTVs

by Keith CowingDecember 28, 2025December 28, 2025

We present the characterization of the TOI-6041 system, a bright (V=9.84±0.03) G7-type star hosting at least two planets.

TESS target pixel file images of TOI-2094 (LEFT) and TOI-7166 (RIGHT). The red circles are sources identified by Gaia DR3 catalogue (Gaia Collaboration et al. 2016, 2023), labelled with numbers sorted by angular distance to the target source. The size of the circles indicates the magnitude contrast to the target source. The mosaic of orange pixels shows the aperture of TESS photometry, where the pixel scale is 20′′. The plots were produced using tpfplotter (Aller et al. 2020).

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report

Multicolour Validation Of Two Temperate Mini-Neptunes Around M-dwarf Habitable Zones

by Keith CowingDecember 26, 2025December 26, 2025

For small planets orbiting within the habitable zones of their host stars, multicolour validation via photometric transit observations offers an efficient alternative to prioritize targets before intensive radial-velocity follow-up, thereby […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Cycle 9 Proposals Update

by Keith CowingDecember 22, 2025December 22, 2025

ROSES-25 Amendment 33: D.3D TESS General Investigator Final Text and Phase-1 Proposals Due March 10, 2026, via ARK/RPS.

TESS

Exoplanet Candidate HD 137010 b: An Ice-Cold Earth Analog?

Discovery and Characterisation of Two Exoplanets Orbiting the Metal-poor, Solar-type Star TOI-5788 with TESS, CHEOPS, and HARPS-N

ExoMiner++ – NASA AI Model That Found 370 Exoplanets Now Digs Into TESS Data

Characterization Of Two New Transiting Sub-Neptunes And A Terrestrial Planet Around M-dwarf Hosts

Launch Of Pandora Satellite And CubeSats To Explore Exoplanets (Update)

Physical Vetting of the Ultra-Short-Period Sub-Earth TOI 864.01

Why Estimating η⊕ Is Difficult: A Kepler-Centric Perspective

Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOTEM) Survey.VII. TOI-6041: A Multi-planet System Including A Warm Neptune Exhibiting Strong TTVs

Multicolour Validation Of Two Temperate Mini-Neptunes Around M-dwarf Habitable Zones

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Cycle 9 Proposals Update

Isobaric Crystallization of Aqueous Magnesium Chloride Solutions at Icy Moon Conditions

Systematic Uncertainties in Rocky Exoplanet Reflected Light from Incomplete Laboratory BRDF Measurements

New Discovery Links Hemispheres In The Mystery Of Earth’s Past Ice Ages

UV Photodamage Pathways And The Evolutionary Selection Of Thymine Over Uracil In Early Genetic Systems

Reversion To The Meta Body Form Of Life After Complete Cell Death In Pure Liquid Water